


On Offer

by FestiveFerret, hundredthousands



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Art/Fic Combo, Bucky Barnes' Butterfly Boxers, Cold Water, First Kiss, Fixing the Arc Reactor, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Sweet Confessions, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24410713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret, https://archiveofourown.org/users/hundredthousands/pseuds/hundredthousands
Summary: "Is it supposed to do that?" Bucky asked.Tony looked down to see the comforting blue light of the arc reactor flickering intermittently. "Uh. No. Nope. That's - that's not normal functionality. In fact, that's very, very bad. The casing must have cracked in the crash and some water got into the core. Sh-sh-shit.""Can it wait or does it need fixing now?"Tony chewed his lip, trying to think through the fog of hypothermia. "If - If I don't fix it now, and it craps out completely, I'll pass out in a few minutes and you'll have about ten more to fix it yourself or I'm toast.""We'd better fix it now then."
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 27
Kudos: 696
Collections: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, StarkBucksBingo2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	On Offer

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to ashes0909 for beta! This collab checks off a bunch of bingo squares for both of us, so apologies for the long note :P 
> 
> **Ferret:**  
>  TSB:  
> Card #: 3137 - FestiveFerret  
> Square: K2 - "Wearing Each Other's Clothes"
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: FestiveFerret  
> Square: N5 - "Huddling for Warmth"
> 
> Bucky Barnes Bingo:  
> Name: MarvelCollabCupid  
> Square: B4 - "Vulnerability"
> 
> **hundredthousands:**  
>  StarkBucks:  
> Name: HT  
> Square: O4 - Art Style: Pointillism
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: HT  
> Square: O1 - Huddling For Warmth
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: HT  
> Square: G3 - Bed Sharing
> 
> StarkBucks:  
> Name: HT  
> Square: B5 - First Kiss

"It's n-n-nothing," Tony chattered through rattling teeth. "Just a little bit of freezing cold river in my underwear."

Bucky pawed at Tony's clothes. "You're soaked right through."

"I'm fine. The others are what? Half an hour out?"

A cloud passed over Bucky's expression. "More like two hours."

"Ah. Ok-k-k-kay. Maybe I should try and dry off a little." Tony shuffled deeper into the little cave they'd found to hide out in and plucked uselessly at his sopping wet shirt. The idea of taking it off and facing bare skin to the chill air was not a pleasant one, but staying in the wet clothes would be even worse. At a minimum, he needed to squeeze them out and try to dry his skin before he got dressed again. 

He tugged on the hem of his shirt, but the weight was too much for his shaking arms and he flopped down again. It wasn't like he was a useless swimmer, but ten minutes of treading water, fully clothed, in ice-cold river water was about his max, apparently.

Two hands pinched his shirt away from his skin and tugged up, and Tony raised his arms and ducked his head through the hole. The air drew goosebumps on the last few remaining inches of smooth skin, and Tony wrapped his arms around his middle as he started shaking again. 

"Um," Bucky said.

Tony tipped his chin up to meet his eye. "W-what?"

"Is it supposed to do that?"

Tony looked down to see the comforting blue light of the arc reactor flickering intermittently. "Uh. No. Nope. That's - that's not normal functionality. In fact, that's very, very bad. The casing must have cracked in the crash and some water got into the core. Sh-sh-shit."

"Can it wait or does it need fixing now?"

Tony chewed his lip, trying to think through the fog of hypothermia. "If - If I don't fix it now, and it craps out completely, I'll pass out in a few minutes and you'll have about ten more to fix it yourself or I'm toast."

"We'd better fix it now then."

Tony's brain hooked on the _we_ and couldn't seem to let it go. "Um. Yes. Okay. Shit." He reached for the reactor, but Bucky's hand covered his.

"First, let's get you a little warmer." 

Tony watched, eyes wide, as Bucky shifted back and started stripping off his clothes. It didn't seem entirely relevant to the issue at hand, but when he peeled up his undershirt and revealed abs chiseled by the gods themselves, Tony found he didn't really have any complaints. If the reactor went out now, at least he'd die happy.

Bucky chuckled. "Put your eyes back in your head, Stark. You're going to need those."

"Then quit it with the Magic Mike number. I'm compromised by water and like… seaweed. And hypothermia."

"It's a river. There's no seaweed."

"There's s-s-seaweedy-like things."

"Here." Bucky handed over his undershirt and started peeling off his pants. 

"What is this for?" Tony asked stupidly.

"For you to wear. It's dry."

"But you'll get c-cold."

"I'm fine. Cold doesn't have as much of an effect on me." Bucky kicked his pants off and _whoa._ Legs. Legs for days. Legs that went all the way up _and_ down. "We super soldiers run hot."

_"Do_ you ever…" Tony murmured. He pulled the shirt over his head and moaned obscenely. It was likely only a little warmer than he usually was, but considering his current popsicle state, it felt like climbing in a hot tub. 

Bucky grabbed the waistband of Tony's pants and started undoing them.

"Whoa! Handsy."

"Not as handsy as I'll be if I have to do CPR when you go into hypothermic shock. Come here." Bucky helped Tony into his warm, dry pants then sat him with his back against a tree near the cave entrance. He shuffled up and suddenly Bucky was _impossibly_ close, sitting practically in Tony's lap, face to face with his butt between Tony's thighs and his legs folded over to sit on either side of the tree trunk. 

Additionally, he wasn't wearing anything but his boxers. They had little butterflies on them.

"Um," Tony said.

"Let's get this fixed." Bucky pointed at the arc reactor. "Your hands are shaking. I assume you need help."

Something not entirely unlike terror flushed through Tony's veins, but was quickly replaced by something a little more like anticipation. He didn't take the reactor apart around other people, but he wanted Bucky's hands on him. Besides, Bucky wasn't wrong: Tony's hands were barely strong enough to do up the button on Bucky's heavy tac pants, let alone carefully dismantle the reactor and rebuild it. If there was anyone he trusted with this, it was Bucky.

"Okay. Yes. Fair point. I'll walk you through it, shall I?"

Bucky nodded.

Tony took the hem of the shirt and folded it through the neckline, pinning it there with his left hand. It gave him a distinct nineteen-nineties, Britney Spears look, but if anyone could work that, it was him. He found the reactor release with his fingernail and pushed it. The reactor clips let go, and the whole piece slid forward half an inch. "Okay." Tony pulled a breath in then let it out, slowly. "There's a large cable attached to the back. You really, really don't want to disconnect that cable. So when you take it out, take it out slowly. If it gets caught, don't pull."

Bucky nodded again then took the edges of the reactor between his fingers. He slid it towards him slowly and steadily, taking the weight in his flesh palm when it finally slipped free. 

"Alright, if you grab this metal ring and twist to the right, it should open."

Bucky followed Tony's instructions and the reactor casing popped open, revealing its sensitive insides. Tony sucked in a sharp breath, pushing down the inevitable anxiety that came with having his heart in someone else's hands.

"You okay?" Bucky asked, eyes on Tony's face instead of the reactor.

"It's…"

"Yeah." Bucky flexed his metal arm, plates shifting and grinding from his shoulder to his fingers.

"There's a release right next to the green LED." Tony pointed with a shaky finger. Sheer discomfort seemed to have chased away the shivers for the moment - either that or the next stage of hypothermia was hitting. "If you press that, the core will come out and we can dry the water out then put it back in."

Bucky used one metal finger to press the button and the core popped forward with a hiss. He gripped the edge and tugged it free. The glow stopped on the reactor and Tony's heart pounded in his ears. _It's okay,_ he whispered to himself. _You're okay._

"I've got you," Bucky said softly. He turned the reactor back and forth, peering inside. "I see a water droplet. Can I wipe it out?"

"Yup. As long as you're gentle, there's nothing to damage in there."

Bucky's fingers brushed against Tony's chest as he reached for the hem of his own shirt, hanging loose on Tony's frame. Tony released some of his grip on it so Bucky could maneuver a corner into the slot from the core. He pressed it in, mopping up the water, then blew a stream of air in to dry the rest out, wafting the core in the air next to him to dry it too. 

"Okay, time's up," Tony told him.

Bucky pressed the core back in and the reactor flickered back on. They both watched, tense and still, but the light held strong and steady this time.

Tony hissed out a breath he hadn't realized was held tight in his lungs. "Okay."

"Good." Bucky expertly clicked the rest of the casing back together without instruction and pressed his metal hand flat against Tony's chest as he used the flesh one to guide the reactor back into place. "Just push?"

"Y-y-yup."

Tony had started shivering violently again by the time Bucky clicked the reactor into place. He tipped his head back against the tree and closed his eyes, imagining a beach, the sun beating down on him, but the chill wind cut right through his fantasy. 

"Tony?" Bucky's fingers ghosted along the side of Tony's neck.

"Yeah. 'm okay," Tony mumbled.

"You're not. You're freezing again." Bucky sighed, and Tony had the vague feeling he'd been a disappointment, and then the warm presence of Bucky's legs over his disappeared.

Tony couldn't stop the whimper that leaked out. 

"Don't worry. I've got you." Bucky hooked his arms around Tony, one under his back and the other under his knees, and picked him up easily. He carried him back to the cave and set him on the soft, pine mulch. There was shuffling that Tony was too out of it to process and then suddenly he was drawn up against a veritable space heater.

"Oh, god," Tony sighed, burrowing into the warmth which he now realized was Bucky's chest. Bucky had Tony tucked between his legs, arms around him. His bare legs folded up to clamp around Tony's. Even though Bucky was nearly naked, he was producing heat like a furnace. 

"They'll be here soon," Bucky whispered into Tony's hair. 

"Don't care," Tony said. "I'm good."

Bucky laughed. "Wouldn't this be better inside, somewhere soft, without the threat of death by hypothermia?"

Tony craned his neck to look around and meet Bucky's eyes. Everything hung there for a moment. "Didn't know that was on offer," Tony finally replied.

Vulnerability flashed behind Bucky's eyes then he nodded slowly. "Course it is," came out rough and unsteady.

"Oh." Tony leaned in and pressed his lips - light and chaste and soft - against Bucky's lips, then settled back down into his embrace. "Well, in that case, those assholes better hurry it up and rescue us. I'm freezing my ass off."

  
**Art:**


End file.
